Left to right: Paul Strachan, Bahamas Tourism Sr. Director, Canada; Chanelle Brown, Bahamas Deputy High Commissioner to Canada;Robbin Whachell, Co-Founder, The Bahamas Weekly who lives in Vancouver; and Anita Johnson-Patty, Bahamas Global Communications. (Tourism Today photo)
Tourism officials traveled across Canada this past week to promote that it’s
business as usual for The Bahamas. As stated in a recent press release, "Canada is the second largest country in the world and the second largest source market for visitor arrivals to The Bahamas next to the United States."
All but 2 of the 16 major islands are fully open to tourists despite the impact of Hurricane Dorian to Abaco and Grand Bahama. Their message was loud, and clearly presented to media and travel professionals across the country on stops in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto that The Bahamas is #StillRockin – the new tourism slogan and hashtag unveiled on the trip.
Leading the charge was Bahamas Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Dionisio D’Aguilar, who said, "The Bahamas is one of the most tourism-dependent countries in the world. Well over 50% of our GDP is derived from the tourism industry and two out of every three Bahamians is employed in the tourism sector. As a result, we believe our work. Marketing Bahamas tourism and communicating how essential tourism is to everyone in the country has never been more important than it is today."
"Clearly Hurricane Dorian and the destruction that it wrought on Abaco and Freeport has dominated the news cycle and will probably be the most urgent and influential story about The Bahamas for some time to come."
"At least as urgent – if not more so, however is the story that The Bahamas is still standing. You see, as reporters rushed to The Bahamas to report about the destruction of Hurricane Dorian, they inadvertently ended up making a bad situation worse. They kept reporting that the Bahamas was destroyed, the Bahamas is gone, the Bahamas is devastated, but that could not have been further from the truth."
"Because when you look at a map of The Bahamas, you quickly discover that The Bahamas is an archipelago – a group of islands that spans almost a thousand kilometers from Freeport in the north to Inagua in the south," the Minister continued.
Circulating on Facebook. Map source unknown.
"Hurricane Dorian, with a diameter of just 125 kilometers, only struck our two northernmost islands, Abaco and Freeport but, thankfully, it left the rest of the country completely unscathed, untouched and not in any way impacted by the storm."
The Minister was also recently quoted in saying that, “"Prior to Dorian's impact, The Bahamas was trending towards its best tourism performance ever and expectations are that with the exception of Abaco and Grand Bahama, the rest of The Bahamas will continue on that trajectory for 2020.”
With D'Aguilar, was honoured guest from the Ottawa High Commission, Charnelle Brown, Deputy High Commissioner; Joy Jibrilu, BMOTA Director General; Ellison Tommy Thompson, BMOTA Deputy Director General; Paul Strachan, BTO Canada Director.
Bahamas Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Dionisio D’Aguilar on Global TV in Vancouver, Canada.(Tourism Today photo)
We were delighted to see Carmel Churchill of the Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board, whose home was completely destroyed during Dorian, and yet on the Canadian crusade she was letting people know that even Grand Bahama is making a comeback. While we’re expecting the international airport to be open any day now, the island does receive domestic flights and has been receiving cruise passengers for weeks. The hotels are slowly opening around the island. One thing that did puzzle us is the use of the name of the capital, 'Freeport' to describe the island of Grand Bahama.
While the Bahamas tourism team has come through Canada before promoting travel to the Islands, this time they were joined by numerous industry partners. They were Atlantis Paradise Island, Baha Mar, Bahamas Experience Tours, Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, Leisure Travel & Tours, Majestic Tours, Margaritaville Bahamas, Melia Nassau Beach Resort, Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board, Rosewood Baha Mar, Sandals Resort, SLS Bahama Mar, Sunrise Beach Club, Westjet Vacations, Valentine's Resort & Marina, Air Canada, Breezes Bahamas and Comfort Suites Paradise Island.
Applauding the Minister of Tourism during dinner. Left to right: Vancouver luxury travel agent specializing in yacht vacations, Anna Teglasi; Robbin Whachell, Co-Founder, The Bahamas Weekly; Dionisio D'Aguilar, Bahamas Minister of Tourism; and Chanelle Brown, Deputy High Commmissioner, Bahamas High Commission, Ottawa. (Tourism Today photo)
This provided a great breadth of travel destination knowledge and gave those attending time to ask and receive information while making new industry contacts.
During the dinner, several videos where played, one was a newer tourism campaign featuring Lenny Kravitz and his famous song, “Fly Away.” Kravitz is a Bahamian descendant and has a home and recording studio in Eleuthera. The campaign was launched early in2019.
There some big news things coming in 2020 as The Bahamas hosts the 38th Caribbean Travel Marketplace (CTM), the Caribbean’s largest tourism marketing event at Baha Mar (Nassau) from Jan. 21 – 23.
Joy Jibrilu, Bahamas Tourism Director General speaks to Vancouver guests. Her speech was extremely informative. (Tourism Today photo)
We’ve also received word that after a ten year hiatus, the Weather Conference will be returning to The Bahamas in March 2020. The 13th annual was held in 2009 and the purpose of the event is to bring together meteorologists from USA, Canada and Europe to discuss weather trends.
So it is indeed, business as usual and it is Better in The Bahamas!
And as the Minister said, "The best way to help The Bahamas, is to visit The Bahamas." Book your vacation today.
Westjet Canada talking to Canadian travel agents. (Tourism Today photo)
Cofound of The Bahamas Weekly with Carmel Churchill, Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board. Carmel lost her home in the hurricane but has been vigilante in promoting the destination.
Air Connectivity via Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto
The Bahamas Media and Trade Presentations at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Left to right: Ellison Tommy Thompson, Bahamas Tourism Deputy Director General; Charnelle Brown, Deputy High Commissioner; Hon. Dionisio D’Aguilar, Bahamas Minister of Tourism and Aviation; Joy Jibrilu, Bahamas Tourism Director General; and Paul Strachan, Bahamas Tourism Sr. Director, Canada. (Tourism Today photo)
Vancouver travel agents gaining information on Bahamas tourism options. (Tourism Today photo)
